


Honesty

by panda013 (Amiria_Raven)



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Blood, F/M, Gunshots, Identity Reveal, Injury, but just to be safe, not really super descriptive violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-23
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-05-02 23:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5268713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amiria_Raven/pseuds/panda013
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Well, if I’m wonderful,” he started, a teasing lilt in his voice causing her to look up and give him the 'kitty don’t you dare' look he so adored. His grin grew wider and he finished, “then you must be purrty Miraculous, don’t you think?”</p><p>His honesty had given them this chance, and she would forever love that earnest part of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: There are mentions of violence and injuries in this! I don't go into graphic detail on the wound, but I marked it just to be safe because I do talk about blood quite a bit in the first part.
> 
> Anyway, this is a 3-part story that is already written out. I'm not posting them all at once, though, just because I love torturing readers! I hope you guys enjoy it, though! :)

Marinette didn’t have time to react. It was either stay right here or risk him turning his gun on the politician in the office across the street that was still ducking for cover.

So she stayed.

When he pulled the trigger, she heard the gunshot and then all sound seemed to cease as everything slowed down around her. There was a blur of movement as he fought to reload and, in a moment of clarity, she snapped her yo-yo at him. With a sickening _crack_ that seemed to echo in her ears, she was certain that she had snapped his wrist with the force. The gun clattered to the rooftop and she swung her yo-yo towards it, sending it flying off the roof just as a pain— _oh God what have I done?!_ —tore through her shoulder.

The bullet. She’d just been shot.

 _I’ll have to go to the hospital for this, but I can’t because then my identity will be revealed and I can’t let anyone know that Ladybug is just shy, clumsy_ Marinette _, but oh my God why didn’t anyone ever tell me how much it hurts to get_ shot—

“ _Ladybug!_ ” the shriek was Alya’s, and Marinette winced beneath her mask as the sights and sounds started to rush back to her. She could hear the wind blowing in her hair, hear the man on the roof cursing, hear the gasps and shouts of a crowd in the distance as police moved in to secure a perimeter around the area.

Her hand reached up to her shoulder and, too late, she realized that her yo-yo had fallen from stricken fingers. She couldn’t catch herself.

 _She was falling from the roof of a seven story building_.

* * *

 

Alya could have screamed.

No, that wasn’t right. Alya _did_ scream, because _Ladybug_ had just taken a _bullet_ and she was falling from a rooftop. She scarcely realized that the sound was tearing from her throat until she had to take a breath, but she immediately threw herself forward, breaking past Nino, who tried to hold her, as she screamed her hero’s name and rushed forward. Nino’s footsteps beat the pavement behind her, following her, and Alya made a beeline towards the falling hero.

The sharp _clack_ alerted her, and in her crazed dash she still recognized the sound. She wasn’t the Ladyblogger for nothing, after all.

Another _clack_ , and a metal pole appeared about ten feet in front of her. She skidded to a halt as Chat Noir vaulted over them, the tortured scream of _“Ladybug_!” ripping as violently from his throat as it had from hers.

“Alya, Alya, Chat Noir can handle this!” Nino was breathless, taking her arm gently. “We need to get _out_ of here, Alya! This isn’t one of those normal supervillains this time. They’re _real_ people with _real_ guns, not magic. It’s not something that Ladybug will be able to fix at the end if you get hit by one of them!”

“ _Ladybug_ ,” she breathed, her throat clenching even as the leather-clad cat snatched his falling partner from the air. “She’s been _shot_ , Nino, she needs the _hospital_ —“

“I _know_ ,” he tugged her into the shadow of a nearby building, pulling her softly into his arms. She could feel his heart beating a frantic rhythm in his chest and she felt bad for pulling him into this situation with her. Part of her had known, instinctively, that her friend would follow her into the midst of everything if she had gone.

Maybe that’s what had given her the courage to run into the den of wolves in the first place, but now that they were alone, her knees started shaking and her legs didn’t want to support her anymore.

“I just wanted to help her…” she murmured, her head buried in his jacket. The chill of wind pierced through her lighter clothes and she lamented not wearing something thicker.

“I know you did, Alya,” Nino pulled her closer to the wall, “I know you still _do_ , but we have to watch out. We have to get away from here. We’ll only distract them now, and you know that it’ll be harder for them to get through now that Ladybug’s injured. Just…don’t worry about the scoop this time, Alya.”

“You’re right,” she tried not to cry—really, she was trying her best. But the thought that Ladybug was wounded, maybe _dying_ , really got to her.

“We need to get back to the café and try to find Adrien and Marinette, remember?” Nino prodded her gently with his words. “We left when Marinette was in the bathroom, and Adrien followed us out but we lost him on the way here. We need to make sure that our friends are okay, too.”

Alya nodded, taking a deep breath and standing straight.

“Let’s go find them,” she answered, her voice shaking slightly but with a determined, concerned expression on her face.

* * *

 

Chat Noir sat her gingerly on her feet, green eyes clouded with worry as he reached up to prod as gently as possible at her injury.

“It went through, right?” she managed to ask, putting a hand against a nearby brick wall to steady herself. “I was really close to him, so it should have gone through…”

“There’s an exit wound, My Lady,” Chat’s voice was clipped, sharp, and it held none of his usual quirks. He produced a black kerchief from somewhere and pressed it against her wound then, attempting to staunch the blood flow. His hands were shaking and his jaw was clenched and she had to try to comfort him even if it wasn’t going to work.

“Then it’ll be fine, kitty,” she reached up to touch his cheek gently, and he inhaled in surprise, his eyes flicking to hers. She flinched at the splotch of red that her fingers left on his cheek and she dropped her hand quickly, glancing away. Marinette reached up to cover his hand, pressing both her partner’s hand and his kerchief tighter against the wound and trying not to show the discomfort in her face. “I just need to stop the bleeding and…”

“You _need_ the hospital, Ladybug,” his tone was serious, and she flinched away. “I don’t _care_ if it went all the way through. It could still be infected, and at least a hospital would help stop the blood and help it heal faster.”

She sighed, and in a small voice said, “I was supposed to be in the bathroom when it all started. My friends will go back and look for me—how do I explain being somewhere else and getting _shot_ , Chat?”

“You said they’d come _back_ for you, so they’re the types that went to see what was up, am I right, My Lady?”

He pulled his hand away from her wound slowly, the black cloth soaked in her blood transferring to her possession as she kept pressure on the injury. She saw the faint red glint of wet blood on his gloves in the light, but she held her tongue as she nodded to answer his question.

“Then you went out to look for them when you left the bathroom because you were worried, and somehow ended up getting wounded in the crossfire. I’ll take you just outside the police perimeter and drop you off in an alley where you can remove the transformation and call your friends for help. Is that satisfactory, My Lady?”

She thought about it for a moment, thought about Alya’s desperate scream when she started to fall from the roof, and closed her eyes to hide whatever emotions they were showing.

Marinette took a deep breath and told him, “Yes. It’s better than anything I can think of.”

“Then let’s go. I’ll help the police if I can, since this isn’t a case with akumas, and then I’ll get back to my friends in the area. I’ll get in touch with you tonight, Ladybug.”

“One more thing, Chat,” she said as he scooped her into his arms with little protest. “The man on the roof was aiming for some politicians in the building across the street. One of them wasn’t hiding yet…”

“…that’s why you took the bullet, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“My Lady is so selfless!” he declared dramatically as he prepared to take a running leap to the next roof. “I’d appreciate it if, next time, she’d try _not_ to get so close to the crazy man with a gun, though.”

She laughed drily as he slowed, starting to descend to the streets. “I’ll try not to, kitty.”

He dropped her off in a small corner, behind a dumpster. Then he proceeded to head back down the alley on foot, occasionally pausing to touch some of the brick walls with his bloody hands in a pre-approved plan from Marinette to make her story more believable.

“Take care, My Lady,” he called from the end of the alley, tossing a roguish wink at her. He didn’t do it with his usual gusto, but it still brought a smile to her lips as she waved her hand in farewell.

“Tikki…is there any way that you can make a bullet hole in my normal clothes when I turn back?” Marinette asked softly. That would be a definite issue if she had the wound but no holes in the clothes she’d been wearing.

“I can,” the small voice replied softly.

“That’s great,” Marinette sighed in relief, and then she waited several long moments before releasing her transformation with a deep breath. Tikki, ever the tone of worry and responsibility, reached up and gently touched her face. Marinette offered her a small smile, but suddenly her wound was so much more painful than it had been moments before and tears rose to her eyes.

“I’ll be fine, Tikki,” she grimaced as she continued to put pressure on her wound with the handkerchief that Chat had given her. “You heard Chat’s plan. It’s got to be enough this time.”

“I just wish you hadn’t been hurt in the first place,” the little kwami said softly, pressing her tiny cheek to Marinette’s own in worry.

The girl opened her mouth to respond, but then her phone started ringing from the purse that had appeared with her de-transformation. She reached for it with her weak hand, the one that would barely move, and almost cried when she saw that it was Alya’s caller ID. Marinette clicked _Answer_ and put it on speaker immediately.

“Marinette! Where are you?” Alya’s voice was shaking, and she sounded concerned. Marinette hated what she was about to do to her best friend, but absolute honesty was the one thing she couldn’t give.

“Alya…” she breathed, “Thank goodness you’re alright!”

Her voice hitched, and while it was unintentional it did suit her purposes, because Alya’s voice asked again, with even more worry, “I’m fine! You don’t sound so good, Marinette. Where are you? We can walk home together and have some hot chocolate and you can tell me what’s bothering you, okay?”

“I-I went out looking for you after the bathroom,” Marinette began the quick lie that Chat Noir had spun for her. “When I couldn’t find you, I guess I went a little too far. I don’t really know what happened, but then I heard a gunshot and screaming…”

“Oh, God, Marinette, where are you?!”

“I-I’m in an alley just off…” she searched for a street and then managed to breathe a name into the phone. “I…my shoulder’s bleeding, Alya. I think…I think I got _shot_ …”

“Oh, _God_. Hang on, Mari, we’ll be there soon! Stay on the phone with me, okay? And Nino—Nino, hurry and call an ambulance, _quick_!”

She heard the boy do a double take, ask a few questions which Alya answered in short words and phrases, and then she heard the sounds of the two breaking into a run as they searched for the street that Marinette had given them. She stayed on speaker with her best friend, giving the girl reassurance as they found their way to her, and struggling with the horrible feeling of making Alya so distraught _twice_ over the same thing.

“ _Mari_!” Alya’s voice exploded from the phone on her leg but also from her right, and Marinette glanced over to see the girl rushing towards her, immediately clicking off her phone and shoving it unceremoniously in the bag at her side. Nino glanced down the street, where Marinette could hear sirens, and waved vigorously.

“Alya!” Marinette tried to lean forward but found that she couldn’t really do so. She hissed in pain and pressed Chat’s handkerchief closer to her wound even though she could tell it was soaked through. “I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt!”

“Shut up!” the redhead responded, almost shrilly, as she dropped down to her knees in front of the dark-haired girl. “Have you seen yourself? Mari, _there’s so much blood_ …!”

“I’ll…be fine,” Marinette offered a small smile. “I…I think it went through, because the back of my shirt feels really wet…” and it was sticking to her skin, but she wasn’t about to go into detail on that front. Just the sight of her blood had made Alya’s face pale considerably, her brows pinching in worry.  Instead, the part-time superhero gasped and asked quickly, “Alya, have you called Mom and Dad?”

“No, I was on the phone with you!” she shot back, pulling out her phone. “I’ll give them a call right now, on speaker. And you can’t tell me no because they’ll find out anyway!”

With a groan that made Alya glare at her, Marinette agreed.

* * *

 

“Oh my gosh!” Alya cried in class the next morning from her seat, and Marinette looked at her, shifting awkwardly in her sling. Before Marinette could ask, the girl leaned down to Nino and asked, “Did you ever tell Adrien about Marinette after he called you and said that his father was making him leave that part of town without meeting up with us?!”

Nino’s eyes widened.

“I completely forgot!”

“I-it’s really nothing!” Marinette interrupted, waving her free hand. “It’s on the mend, and we wouldn’t want to worry him about it! He’ll be here soon, anyway, and you can e-explain it to him then if you r-really want to!”

“He’s your _friend_ , Marinette! He would want to know that you were hurt!” Nino groaned, putting his face in his hands. “I’m so, _so_ sorry I forgot to tell him! I was just so worried, and I know he ended up being really busy with homework and stuff, it just…”

The door slid open and Alya quickly called, “Adrien!”

Her voice was more urgent than her usual _good morning_ tone, and he glanced up immediately, worry in his eyes, as he made his way to his seat.

“What is it, Alya?”

“We forgot to get in touch with you last night about Marinette!” Alya exclaimed, gesturing wildly at the dark-haired girl beside her. Marinette groaned and dropped her head to the desk.

“Alya, it’s fine, i-it’ll get b-better soon, okay?”

“Wait, what happened?”

Marinette peeked up at him through her bangs as he looked over her in concern. Her sling was hidden behind her desk, she realized, and she’d best show him now because Alya and Nino would be blurting out the story in just a few minutes anyway. And so, flushing to the tips of her ears at his worried scrutiny, Marinette sat up and peered, almost shyly, at him. At first glance, she thought it might just look like she’d sprained her wrist or fractured her arm or something of that nature. Letting him think that for just a few seconds would be fine.

“ _That_ ,” Nino groaned. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, man, we were just so worked up and you had to leave and it just slipped my mind.”

“What happened?!” Adrien asked again, leaning forward and putting a gentle hand on Marinette’s opposite shoulder. “Did you get attacked, or did you fall, or—“

“She got _shot_!” Alya hissed, glancing around the still mostly empty classroom. Somehow they’d managed to all make it here early, which was a relief to Marinette. She didn’t want the entire school knowing that she’d been _shot_ the same night as Ladybug, after all. “She couldn’t just stay in the café or something—she _came looking for us_! In the middle of that!”

Adrien’s fingers tightened momentarily on her good shoulder as his green eyes widened. His eyes switched from Alya to Marinette quickly, and she flushed, averting her gaze. She should have _known_ that Alya would give the honest truth and be up front about it, especially where _Adrien_ was concerned.

Maybe it was one of her schemes to get him to show even more interest? It seemed to be working, anyway.

“Marinette, is it _true_? You got _shot_?”

He, at least, was able to keep his voice down. The worry in his voice made her heart flutter, but she also felt bad about having to hide the circumstances from all of them. The little fib that Chat had given her had worked miraculously on everyone she’d had to tell, but it still made her uncomfortable that she had to _lie_ about it.

“Y-yeah, I guess,” she murmured softly.

“You _guess_?” Nino scoffed. “Mari, we had to have the ambulance come pick you up from an _alley_ that was covered in your blood!”

“Don’t say it like that!” Marinette covered her face with her one good hand. “It wasn’t _that_ much blood in the alley. Just o-on my clothes…a-and the wall I was leaning against…”

“And that handkerchief!” Alya shot back. “It was completely _soaked_ , Marinette! And your hands, and _my_ hands… _God_ , if you ever, _ever_ do something like that again, Mari, I’m going to lock you up in a cage where you can’t get out!”

“Agreed!” Adrien finally spoke again, and she flushed at the look he cast in her direction. It was one of worry, but there was also something else in his eyes that she couldn’t quite place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, if I’m wonderful,” he started, a teasing lilt in his voice causing her to look up and give him the 'kitty don’t you dare' look he so adored. His grin grew wider and he finished, “then you must be purrty Miraculous, don’t you think?”
> 
> His honesty had given them this chance, and she would forever love that earnest part of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't help it. I was going to wait another seven or eight hours to give you part two, but I guess you can have it earlier than planned. I hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and kudos on chapter one! I really appreciate it!

When Marinette and Alya disappeared during a break between classes, and Nino hurriedly dug out his unfinished homework for next class, Adrien lost himself in his thoughts. His mind was reeling, and he wasn’t sure how he’d managed to make it through their first two classes and still take legible notes.

 _Marinette was shot_.

_Marinette was shot on the same night as Ladybug._

_Marinette was shot on the same night as Ladybug and in the same shoulder as Ladybug._

_Marinette was shot on the same night as Ladybug and in the same shoulder as Ladybug and her story is exactly the same as the one I made up for Ladybug_.

There was only one logical conclusion that could make all of those coincidences line up…and it meant that it wasn’t a coincidental occurrence at all. And the fact that they had come to Marinette in an alley and he had _left_ Ladybug in an alley, and that Marinette was claiming that she didn’t really remember what had happened, all added to his conviction.

And now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand, two of his closest friends in the entire _world_ happened to be the same person. His easy camaraderie with Ladybug was on a completely different scale than his fledgling friendship with his shy, energetic classmate Marinette, but he still held them both dear. Now he only held them both closer in his heart, knowing that they were two sides to the same coin.

On the other hand, however, he’d discovered his lady’s secret against her will. She’d refused to show him who she was behind the mask, again and again, and now she wasn’t even aware that her best friend had told him everything he needed to know.

Adrien Agreste didn’t know how to handle this sudden information.

Logically, he knew it would be best to tell her, and tell her soon, but he wasn’t sure how he could articulate that information when Marinette was always so jittery around him. And he wasn’t likely to see her as Ladybug any time soon on their nightly patrols unless an akuma popped up and possessed someone, so he was stuck. He could always hide the information from her until then, but with his luck it would slip at the worst moment and he’d probably be more likely to lose her friendship in that kind of situation.

If there was anything that Chat Noir would avoid at all cost, it was losing Ladybug.

She’d brought light into his extremely dull life, and he would still be trapped in the monotony of his childhood if he hadn’t met her that summer before 9th grade. She was the one that pulled him out of his shell, the one that indirectly convinced him to suggest to his father that _maybe_ it was time he started going to a public school instead of being homeschooled.

And all along, she’d been sitting behind him in all his classes, lighting up the classroom with her spirit and determination.

He never even noticed the sigh that escaped his lips until Nino glanced up at him.

“Thinking about Mari?” he asked softly, glancing across their chatting classmates. “She’s tough, Adrien. She’ll be perfectly healed in no time at all.”

“Yeah,” Adrien’s answer was even lower than Nino’s, and the other boy leaned closer to hear. “I know she’s tough, and I know she’ll be fine. It’s just…it’s terrifying, Nino, to think that we were so close to _losing_ her, and we didn’t even _know_.”

“Mhmm,” Nino pursed his lips, and his voice cracked a little when he whispered, “you didn’t _see_ Alya. It was the _worst_.”

Adrien didn’t even bother questioning it. He reached over and clapped Nino on the shoulder, and the bespectacled boy coughed, adjusting his glasses to hide as he dashed a tear from the corner of his eye, and stuck his tongue out at the blond. His hand was trembling slightly, but he went back to his homework diligently, only casting a small, thankful grin in Adrien’s direction when he thought his friend had stopped watching him.

Adrien leaned forward, stretching, as he rested his chin on the desk.

 _I have to tell her_.

It wasn’t going to get better if he just let the knowledge be, and he knew more than anyone the cost of keeping a secret. He could relate to her and, in the process, he’d also be revealing himself. Maybe it would make the secret harder to keep—but his knowledge of her secret was already enough to increase the risk.

Honesty was _definitely_ his best bet.

Adrien glanced up when the she and Alya came back into the room, giggling at something they had been discussing. When her bright blue eyes met his green, he offered her a half-smile, and she flushed, smiling shyly back while waggling the fingers of her good hand in a wave.

* * *

 

When lunch rolled around, the group of four decided to go somewhere together. With her injury, none of them wanted Marinette to walk all the way back to her house, and they unanimously decided that she couldn’t be left to the concoctions of the school’s food services. Not that the cafeteria served _bad_ food, per se, just that she’d been through a traumatic experience and she needed to eat something fattening and delicious.

That was the way Alya put it, anyway.

Adrien just saw it as a possible chance to get a minute or two alone with her to maybe talk about the pressing matters that were clouding his mind. If he could just manage to walk with her and lag behind the others, or if the others would get up and go to the bathroom or _something_ , he would be golden.

But his luck was awful, so he wasn’t holding his breath.

“Where do you want to go, Mari?” Alya asked as they stepped out of the doors to the school. “As long as it’s closer than the bakery, because I don’t want you walking too far!”

“Why are you asking me?” Marinette looked away, cheeks puffed out in a way that reminded him of when she was annoyed at his antics when he was Chat Noir. “You’re all just as capable as picking a place to eat as I am!”

“You were _shot_ ,” Alya said pointedly, gesturing at the sling that hid some of her shoulder’s bandages. “You get first pick of everything until you get better.”

“That’s not a reason!”

“It’s good enough for me,” Nino shrugged, sharing a glance with Alya and grinning at Marinette as she tried to protest.

“Same for me,” Adrien chipped in. Alya smirked victoriously and Marinette’s shoulders slumped as she sighed. The blond saw her racking her brain for a place to go, and when her eyes flicked quickly to her three friends, he realized what she was doing. Or he _thought_ he did, at least.

She was trying to think of a place that would suit everyone’s tastes, and if anyone knew that best it would be Marinette. She was always attentive and observant when it came to her friends and things that would make them more comfortable. It was part of the selflessness he saw her use when she was behind the mask—probably part of what had made her think it was a good idea to stand in front of a man with a gun to protect the actual target.

“How about…the café that’s just two streets over?” Marinette looked at Alya for confirmation.

“Ah, the one we go to sometimes?” the redhead asked. Marinette nodded, looking at her feet as if her flats were the most interesting shoes in the entire world.

He’d never given her more than a few moments’ notice, and now Adrien was really regretting it. The seemingly shy girl that sat behind him in class had always been interesting, but he’d been too concerned with keeping his secret from Alya and Nino, from his father and Nathalie, and too preoccupied with his crush on Ladybug to pay her much attention. And now, as he watched the way she interacted with his other two friends, Adrien was wondering if his distance was the reason she always seemed unable to talk around him. Even in the last few weeks, he’d been trying to become closer friends with her, and now he was seeing even clearer signs why.

It was strange to picture her as his lady, but the more he saw of her different mannerisms, the more he could see the spotted hero in her.

“Oh!” Alya’s voice brought Adrien out of his thoughts, and he tuned in to realize that they were slipping into the café. “It’s kind of packed!”

“I-I’m sorry, let’s go somewhere else!”

Adrien stifled a chuckle—she was going too far, and he found it kind of adorable.

“No, no, it’s fine!” Nino waved his hands, smiling and casting a knowing look at his blond friend. Adrien cleared his throat and took his hand from his mouth, slipping it into his pocket with an unabashed grin. “Let’s just try to get a table real quick and send a couple of people up to order!”

“What a _great_ idea, Nino!” Alya cried, latching onto his arm with a grin. “In fact, why don’t we just go order now and have Adrien and Marinette find us all a table?”

A chance Adrien hadn’t been expecting arose, and he nodded to the suggestion before he realized what he was doing. The girl in question also stammered some sort of affirmative, and Alya beamed like the cat that got the cream. It was an expression that Adrien wasn’t sure he liked on the devious Ladyblogger’s features, but he gave his order to Nino after a glance at the hanging menu, and Marinette mumbled something about _the usual_ to Alya.

“Shall we find a table, My Lady?” Adrien offered her his arm on her uninjured side, speaking in a very Chat manner before realizing. And then, as her eyes widened briefly, he decided it was a good way to wean her into his news.

The girl blinked a few times, shook her head—probably to rid it of similarities between Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir, if he was to guess—and shyly took the offered arm.

It was a few moments before they found a booth that had just been cleared, and they waved at Nino in line, before sliding onto opposite benches. She was avoiding his eyes, and he felt a little discouraged, but Adrien couldn’t wait any longer.

“Marinette,” his voice was low, and he leaned forward across the table just a little. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

She jumped a little at being directly addressed, then looked at him with wide, curious blue eyes. “U-uh, sure, go ahead!” she managed, though part of her sentence came out a little strangled and squeaky.

He glanced over, spying their friends still several people back in the line to place their orders, and then his gaze trailed to her shoulder. He flinched at the way he had seen Ladybug— _the girl in front of him_ —toppling from the roof of a seven story building, and he lost the words he’d been rehearsing since he’d first connected the dots in the morning. But Marinette was waiting patiently, her brows starting to furrow in concern.

“I-It’s about yesterday, when you got shot,” Adrien finally said, his voice even lower.

“What about it?”

“I just have two questions, and please, _please_ , don’t freak out. Okay?”

She raised her eyebrows in confusion, and he knew that she was probably noticing how awkward he was being. It was just really hard to figure out how to tell her something like, _Hey, Marinette, I know you’re super, super secretive and stuff, but I found out that you’re Ladybug and I’m really sorry but it’s okay because I’m Chat Noir!_

That would go over well.

“G-go on…?” she prompted after a while, and he took a deep breath.

“They told me that they had to go pick you up in an alley,” he finally said, quickly, as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough, “and Alya mentioned a handkerchief. I just wanted to ask these two things—were you with someone who left you in the alley and smeared blood along the wall to make it look more believable, and was the handkerchief black?”

Oh, God, that was the most awkward statement he’d ever made in his entire _life_.

“W-w-what?!” her eyes widened, her voice getting shrill for a moment before she glanced around, apologized to the two people who had looked her way, and turned her startled gaze back on Adrien. “ _What are you talking about?_ ”

So she didn’t stutter when she was serious, or when she was channeling her superhero persona.

“Well, it’s not like I want my handkerchief back, _My Lady_ , but I had to make sure.”

The look on her face would have made him start chucking if he was wearing all black leather instead of flimsy cotton clothes that seemed to be entirely too tight around the neck. A quick glance showed that Nino and Alya were placing the order for their food.

“ _Chat…_?”

The words came out as a soft breath, and he just kind of grinned at her, reaching forward to take the hand of her uninjured arm. It was an entirely new feeling doing this now that neither of them were behind the mask, but he quelled the fear rising in his throat and pressed a light kiss to her knuckles.

“What’s wrong, Princess? Cat got your tongue?”

And then a brilliant red was blossoming across her cheeks, and they puffed out like they did when she was annoyed with him during their patrols, but she was also working her mouth like she was trying to say something and just couldn’t find the words to express herself.

“You…but you’re _Adrien_ …but _Chat_ …? No, no, there’s something I’m missing,” she muttered to herself, casting a quick glance over to where their friends were waiting on their food. She hoped Alya hadn’t seen Adrien’s very, very Chat Noir display of affection, because she’d _never_ live that down. “How have you been that kitty all along? And why didn’t I notice?!”

“If it makes you feel any better, I only found out because Alya mentioned the alley and the handkerchief and she actually told me you were _shot_ instead of playing it off as something else…”

Marinette sighed, leaning back and eying him curiously for a few moments. He didn’t intrude upon her thoughts, because it was fun to watch the expressions flit across her features. First there was a disgruntled look, as if she almost didn’t believe it was true, and then it turned to one of determination, and he knew she was probably thinking back on all the times that his personas had slipped around her. From there, she looked down, drumming her fingers almost impatiently on the table for a few moments and then—the shocker—she glanced back up at him and, as she looked, she bit her lip as red blossomed across her cheeks.

Finally she groaned, ran a hand down the side of her face, and looked away.

“Are you…okay with this? I mean, with _me_ being Ladybug?”

Her voice was soft, insecure, and he reached forward again to take hold of her hand once more.

“Of _course_ I’m okay with that, Mari!” he hissed, glancing to where the others were stepping up to pick up the food. “If anything, it should be _me_ asking _you_ if you’re okay that Chat Noir’s just Adrien Agreste!”

“ _Just_ —don’t say it like that! You’re _wonderful_ on both sides of the mask!”

Her words were quick, and so fierce that he was taken aback. And then she realized what she said, gasped, and pulled her hand away to try to cover the blush that was rising to her cheeks.

And then something clicked.

She didn’t _hate_ him. She’d never _hated_ him. The fact that they never got a chance to talk wasn’t entirely his fault because he was so busy. Her nervousness didn’t come from the idea that he didn’t want to talk to her.

He reached across the table to pull her hand down and held it between both of his, watching her reaction carefully. His normally forward, determined lady was peering up at him through her lashes, embarrassed and bashful, and his heart gave a lurch. He kind of hated himself for not seeing all these glaring similarities sooner, but now that he had finally found them, he was so glad that he had.

“Well, if I’m wonderful,” he started, a teasing lilt in his voice causing her to look up and give him the _kitty don’t you dare_ look he so adored. His grin grew wider and he finished, “then you must be purrty _Miraculous_ , don’t you think?”

Marinette groaned when she pulled her hand back, rubbing her temple.

“Oh my God, you’re impossible!”

“Im _paw_ sible, My Lady?”

“Adrien, so help me, I’m going to _smack_ you—“

“Mari! That’s not a nice thing to say!” Alya slapped a hand over the dark-haired girl’s mouth, and she hissed something in her ear that Adrien couldn’t hear. Sometimes he wished those cat senses he got when he was _in_ the suit would stay when he _wasn’t_ , because from the way that Marinette went bright red, he was sure it was something good.

And, if he was lucky, it was about _him_.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, if I’m wonderful,” he started, a teasing lilt in his voice causing her to look up and give him the 'kitty don’t you dare' look he so adored. His grin grew wider and he finished, “then you must be purrty Miraculous, don’t you think?”
> 
> His honesty had given them this chance, and she would forever love that earnest part of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand here's part 3!
> 
> Thanks so much for your support and comments throughout!

Marinette gulped as Alya stared her down.

“So…” the redhead started to pace the middle of the designer’s room, glancing to where the dark-haired girl sat on her bed every few seconds. “I need some answers, Marinette, and I need them _now_ because something isn’t adding up.”

“O-oh yeah?” she tried to play oblivious, but she could tell that her best friend was on a warpath. Marinette was about to face true and utter mortification and there was no way to avoid it. That didn’t mean she wouldn’t _try_ of course…but Marinette was rubbish at keeping things from Alya, save for a certain spotty secret. “W-what’s bothering you?”

“What was _that_ at lunch today?”

 _I knew it_ , the girl flinched a little at the way Alya’s voice rose, and opened her mouth to claim that she didn’t know what her friend was talking about.

“And _don’t_ say that you don’t have a clue what I’m getting at!” Alya’s glare was enough to make Marinette snap her mouth closed again. “You were _talking_ to Adrien! Using actual _words_! And he was holding your _hand_ when we were walking back to the table. Don’t think I didn’t notice that, you sly, _sly_ girl! And then you actually had the nerve to tell Adrien— _Adrien Agreste_ , the boy you’ve liked for _years_ , that you would _smack_ him!”

“I wouldn’t _actually_ smack him,” Marinette muttered, glancing away. She couldn’t exactly tell Alya that, were they not in public, she would have definitely smacked him in the back of his head because he was her silly cat and he’d made an _awful_ pun. Multiple awful puns. Alya wouldn’t understand, and Marinette absolutely couldn’t tell her. It was definitely one of those topics that were completely off-limits, since she wouldn’t even tell the girl about the fact that she was the spotted superhero that Alya was determined to unmask.

“Of _course_ not, because normally you wouldn’t actually _talk_ to him!”

“What do you want me to say, Alya?” Marinette asked with a sigh. “You want me to say that I actually had the courage to ask him out, or that we’re secretly dating and were just hiding it? I can’t _tell_ you those things, because they’re not _true_! I _haven’t_ confessed to him, we’re _not_ dating, and I don’t know how to feel because I think he _found out_ that I like him,” among other things he’d discovered, of course, “and I’m just really confused because it just seemed so much easier to talk to him than usual!”

But of course, the knowledge that he was _Chat Noir_ was enough to take some of the nervousness away and to add some of the teasing in.

The knowledge that the _Adrien Agreste_ was Chat Noir, _her Chat Noir_ , also hadn’t diminished her feelings for her blond classmate, which had come to a huge shock to her and had sent her excusing herself to the bathroom during a break between classes, rushing off before Alya could ask if she needed to come along. Marinette’s feelings, if anything, had _grown_ now that she knew the two most important boys in her life came together as the _most_ important boy.

“You didn’t confess but you think he knows?!” Alya shot forward, reaching to grab her friend’s shoulders before remembering the injury and cupping the girl’s face in her hands. “Mari, the way he was _acting_ —if he knows, doesn’t that mean he might like you back? He was practically _flirting_ with you, and you know Adrien isn’t like that!”

 _No, but Chat Noir is_ , Marinette’s mind hissed, and it made her shift uncomfortably where she sat.

“I-I don’t know, Alya,” she glanced to the side, and found herself staring directly into the eyes of one of the many Adriens on her wall. The sudden recollection of the way his eyes had flashed in an oh-so Chat Noir way when he had kissed her knuckles shot through her mind, and her cheeks exploded in a wave of heat.

The redhead felt the flush rising, and she pulled her hands away from Marinette’s cheeks, laughing.

“Oh, good for you, Mari! You might get to start dating him soon!” she cheered, beaming and dancing around Marinette’s room, taking care to avoid her designing paraphernalia as she did so. “Soon your dreams of holding hands with him and kissing him and going on dates with him—“

“Alya!” the dark-haired girl’s voice came out as an embarrassed squeak—nothing to do with the hopeful image of _kissing Chat Noir on the rooftops_ that ran through her head, not at _all_ —“Alya, please, no, stop!”

The redhead dissolved in laughter, flopping down in the middle of the floor as Marinette dove into her pillow as carefully as possible in order to bury her face and hide the burning cheeks she knew she was sporting.

They dissolved into other conversations as the afternoon wore on, though Marinette’s mind was never far from him.

* * *

 

When Alya had finally left just as it was getting dark, Marinette set out to take down some of her embarrassing decorations. Her larger posters of Adrien _had to go_ , because if she had guessed wrong and he _didn’t_ already know about her huge crush on him, the posters would be a dead giveaway if he ever came into her room. She did let herself keep her three favorite photos up, though, since one of them had their entire group in it. Her pictures with Alya still outnumbered his pictures on her wall, which was what she had been aiming for.

She was expecting something.

Marinette didn’t know what it was, exactly, but after they had learned each other’s identities, she wouldn’t be surprised if a certain stray cat found his way to her rooftop tonight to talk to her.

Maybe it was wishful thinking, but she thought his eyes had been filled with unanswered questions when they had parted at the end of the school day, Alya dragging her off for interrogation while Nino undoubtedly did the same to him. But if she _was_ right and he had questions he still wanted answered, then there was an extremely high possibility of a knock at her window sometime in the night ahead of her.

Unless, of course, he wanted to wallow in self-pity because the girl he’d claimed to love night after night for the last few years had turned out to be a clumsy little nobody who sat behind him in class.

Marinette groaned.

“Are you alright, Mari?” a tiny voice asked, and she turned her blue eyes to the small kwami crawling out from under her pillow, yawning. She’d crawled there to take a nap while Alya was there, and Marinette’s shuffling must have woken her.

“I’m fine, Tikki, I’m just thinking about…” she paused, “…well, _everything_ , I guess.”

“About Adrien being Chat?” the little red creature asked, floating forward and landing softly on her partner’s sling. The two hadn’t had very much time to talk about it since the revelation, and Marinette kind of wished they had.

“That’s part of it,” the dark-haired girl nodded, sealing the box she’d put all of her posters in with some packing tape, which was a feat for someone that could only use one hand currently. She then stowed the box under her bed and stretched before continuing in a softer voice, “That’s part of it, Tikki, but there’s more. About the way he acted, and some of the things he said, and about the way he looked at me. About how it was so easy to talk to him when I found out and how I still like him even though I _know_ he’s Chat.”

Her words had tumbled more quickly than she thought and she sighed, perching on the edge of her bed.

“Tikki…I didn’t stop liking Adrien because he was Chat. I just started liking him _more_.”

The implications of those words weren’t lost on the kwami, and her tiny eyes widened just a little. Marinette groaned again, flopping backwards on her bed as Tikki floated above her, looking down at her with shock, and then starting to giggle.

“Doesn’t that mean you liked Chat, too?” the little red creature suggested in the throes of her mirth as she did corkscrews in the air. “Even though you always pushed him away because you liked Adrien?!”

“ _Tikki_ ,” the dark-haired girl whined, “don’t rub it in!”

“Do you think he still likes you?” the kwami twirled down to land softly on Marinette’s shoulder.

“Did he really like me as Ladybug?” the teen retorted, staring up at her ceiling. “Or was he just a flirt? And if he _did_ really like me, what does he think now that he knows I’m just…me? And what do I do if he doesn’t like me anymore, since I just like him more now?”

“Oh, Marinette,” Tikki touched her small cheek to her human partner’s, “if Adrien liked you as Ladybug, I’m sure he’ll still like you without the mask, too, because you _are_ Ladybug. Everything he sees in Ladybug is a part of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, one of his good friends and the girl who sits behind him in class. The things that you saw in Adrien Agreste are the same ones that make up Ladybug’s partner and friend, Chat Noir. I think you were always attracted to those qualities, Marinette, and I think he could be the same way.”

With a giggle, Marinette reached her good hand up to give Tikki a reassuring pat on the head.

“If you say so, Tikki, I guess I have to believe you!”

She still felt a little awkward, and she worried about what to do or say next time she saw him, but she let herself drift into a much-deserved nap, Tikki curled up in the crook of her arm for another short nap.

* * *

 

“-nette. _Marinette!_ ”

“Hmmmmm?” she stretched, wincing when she accidentally moved her injured shoulder as she blinked her eyes open. Tikki was hovering above her. “Tikki, what’s the problem?” Marinette shot up with a gasp, flinching at her shoulder again, and hissed, “There’s not an akuma, is there?!”

“No, no, no!” the kwami shook her head quickly. She then simply pointed to the window, and in confusion, Marinette glanced over to find a cheeky grin and a mop of blond hair waving at her. A quick glance to her clock showed that it was nearly eleven, and she’d been asleep for almost four hours. So much for taking a _nap_.

“That way,” Marinette spoke to the leather-clad hero, but she also pointed to the door in her ceiling that would lead to the roof. She started to go to it in order to unlock it, but Tikki beat her to it. It was probably a good thing, because Marinette couldn’t exactly climb up the short ladder in her condition, at least not easily, and she definitely couldn’t open the door if she wanted to go up.

A few seconds later, just as Tikki was perching gently on the dark-haired girl’s uninjured shoulder as Marinette carefully ran her fingers through her sleep-mussed hair, the door opened and a leather-clad figure managed to make his way quietly into her room. He even closed the latch against the chill draft, which was thoughtful and very much appreciated, as the cool breeze brushed past her and made her shiver.

“Good evening, My Lady,” his eyes glinted as he took her hand and bowed slightly at the waist, “I trust your night has been purrfection?”

She rolled her eyes before she could stop herself, and she saw a grin break across his face as the costume started to wear away. Marinette took a short step back in surprise, not expecting him to remove the transformation like that, and she was still unprepared to see Adrien smirking the same way once the leather cat suit was gone.

“There hasn’t been much of a night for me,” she pouted slightly, glaring at her bed.

“Was it at least a good catnap, then?”

When she looked back at him, his eyes were twinkling mischievously and she sighed. “Don’t think I won’t hit you when you’re not in the suit.”

“But you _won’t_ ,” he insisted, taking a step closer to her to close the distance she’d put between them when he’d taken the transformation away. She looked defiantly up at him, her blue eyes flashing something so distinctly _Ladybug_ that it nearly sent him reeling, and in order to save himself the embarrassment of continuing to stare into her eyes, he started to look around her room. It was the first time he’d been here, even though they had been friends for so long and Chat Noir had worked with Marinette a few times.

“What are you looking for?” she asked, following his eyes as he trailed across a bunch of designs tacked to the wall—designs where, until about six hours ago, a really embarrassing poster of his face had been hanging. “I don’t have a Ladybug suit hanging in my window or anything, do I?”

He snorted, and then flushed lightly before assuring her, “I’m not looking _for_ anything. I’m just looking around. Are you saying I can’t, even though you let me in?”

Adrien enjoyed the way that a faint pink blossomed across her cheeks, and he enjoyed how expressive her facial features were. Seeing the way her eyes flashed and her cheeks puffed up without her mask was one of his new favorite things, and he felt the back of his neck growing warm at the thought. But when he followed a slightly nervous glance she cast towards her wall, he found that she had a small cluster of photos pinned. There were several, of course, that pictured Marinette and Alya and occasionally some of their other classmates, and there was one with their group of four. But there were also a few pictures of him from his photoshoots, and his stomach lurched in a way that wasn’t entirely uncomfortable.

“Well, then,” she perched gently on the edge of her bed, scooting over and glancing up at him, “if you h-have something you wanted to say, you can s-sit down.”

The way her cheeks colored as she averted her gaze drew him forward, and he sat down on the bed beside her, closer than he would have just yesterday but farther than he would have if he’d been behind the mask of Chat Noir. For a few moments, he simply watched her, and then glanced at the little red creature perched on her shoulder even as Plagg floated up in front of Marinette.

“So you’ve been Ladybug all along,” Plagg’s voice was matter-of-fact, and then he started to grin. “I’m glad I was right!”

“ _You knew?!_ ” three voices exclaimed at once. Marinette exchanged a surprised glance with her kwami, and then she glanced up at Adrien.

“Of course!” Plagg puffed out his chest proudly. “I could always sense Tikki nearby, and you’re the only girl that looked anything like Ladybug in the school! It _had_ to be you! Plus the fact that you were never around for very long when an akuma showed up, and how Ladybug seemed to know every member of your class by name.”

“If you knew, why didn’t you ever say anything?” Adrien was surprised when Marinette spoke up first, questioning his kwami.

“Because it was more fun to watch how oblivious you two were!” he cackled. “Especially after this _idiot_ told Ladybug that he was sure he’d recognize her _instantly_. It was priceless! And—oh, the name’s Plagg, by the way!”

“Marinette, but you already know that, don’t you?”

“Yup!”

“ _Plagg_ ,” Adrien finally found enough of his voice to groan embarrassedly at the tiny, floating black cat.

“It’s okay, Adrien, he’s always like that,” the little red kwami had left Marinette’s shoulder and was now lightly patting the blond’s cheek. “At least you can usually count on him to give his honest opinions! Anyway, my name is Tikki, and I help Marinette become Ladybug. It’s nice to finally meet you!”

Adrien couldn’t help but smile at the little floating creature, and he reached out his hands. Noticing his gesture, she dropped onto his palm with a giggle and he replied, “It’s nice to meet you as well, Tikki. Plagg’s talked a little about you before, but he never mentioned that you were so much more _pleasant_ than he is.”

“Hey!” Plagg flopped into Marinette’s outstretched hand, sticking his tongue out at his human partner. “I resent that!”

“ _Now I know where Chat Noir gets it from_.”

The murmur was so soft he almost didn’t catch it, but Tikki’s giggle and Plagg’s immediate, indignant protests assured Adrien that the kind, sweet girl he’d come to know had actually made the comment, and he couldn’t help but grin. The grin turned into a light chuckle and, after just a few moments, he was laughing as quietly as he could—her parents were probably asleep somewhere nearby, after all, and he didn’t want to try to explain why there was a boy in their daughter’s room in the middle of the night.

“See what I have to deal with?” he managed to ask her as his laughter died down. “Proof of My Lady’s luck if I ever saw it!”

He was sitting on her uninjured side, but he was still surprised when she leaned over to nudge him with her good shoulder, snorting at his antics. “No, kitty, I think it’s just the proof of how terrible your luck really is!”

It took a few moments longer, but then red blossomed across her cheeks and his neck started to burn uncomfortably warm. They had bantered just like they did behind the mask, using the same nicknames and mannerisms. It was still strange for him to see that attitude in Marinette…but he acknowledged that he’d seen some of the signs all along. The same thing could be said for the dark-haired girl’s opinion of him.

After a pregnant pause, in which the kwamis started to zoom around the room, chasing each other and holding their own conversation, Marinette cleared her throat.

“So, um, you wanted to talk about something?”

He didn’t miss the way she carefully put both of her hands in her lap, wary of her sling. Looking at them like this, her hands just looked so _small_ , and Adrien wanted nothing more than to reach forward and take one of them in his own hand. For the time being, though, he refrained because he wanted her to take him completely seriously.

“Well, yes,” he started, and then he lost all of his carefully rehearsed words and sighed. He paused to lean forward, clasping his hands with his elbows on his knees, and he let his eyes travel to the photos on her wall. A few moments passed, and she waited patiently, though he felt her shift nervously beside him a time or two, before he finally continued, “I just want to know what this means for us. I know you didn’t want to reveal your identity to me, and I respected that. I still do. But when I found out, I couldn’t keep it a secret because I felt like it would be disrespectful to you. I, uh…I’m sorry, Marinette.”

His words were slow and thoughtful, and Marinette was touched. He was still staring at her wall as opposed to her, though, and his shoulders were slumped in something that so closely resembled defeat that it made her frown softly.

Before she had really noticed what she was doing, the dark-haired girl had reached over with her good hand and started rubbing small circles on his back. She felt him tense for a moment, saw a flash of green as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, but she couldn’t take the slumped look of dejection when it was coming from her best friend, her partner, _her crush,_ so she smiled softly and continued rubbing his back. She offered him as much comfort as she could through such simple contact, and she watched as the tension just melted away.

“Don’t apologize for that,” she finally murmured softly, leaning forward and surprising both of them when she rested her chin lightly on his shoulder, her arm snaking around him. She pulled him closer in a half-hug, and her heart started racing. “It’s not your fault that you found out, but I am glad that you were honest and told me about it. In a situation like that, it would be completely obvious.”

“Did Alya figure it out?” his voice was low, concerned. She appreciated that.

“No. And I have a certain kitty cat’s quick cover story to thank for that, you know.”

He glanced back at her again, and she beamed at him, lifting her chin from his shoulder and leaning back, although she still kept her arm around him.

“I’m actually amazed that she bought that story,” Adrien confessed softly, leaning back and looking down at his superhero partner with a soft grin. “I didn’t expect Ladybug’s friends to include the girl that’s dead set on unmasking us both. And the fact that Alya and Nino _saw_ you get shot…”

“I _was_ on top of a seven story building, and they were down on the street,” Marinette said slowly, her gaze falling to her floor. “She might not have seen exactly where the bullet hit.”

“She also wasn’t recording, for once,” Adrien’s arm gently slid behind her, his hand coming to rest lightly on her opposite hip to avoid her injury as he returned her light half-hug. At her inquiring glance—and ignoring the flush that had darkened on her cheeks even as he felt his ears starting to warm up—he elaborated by saying, “I passed the two of them when you started to fall.”

The sight of her falling from the roof of that building, and the echoes of the fear he’d felt before he knew she’d live, sent a shudder up his spine, and Marinette drew closer, resting her head on his shoulder. With a slightly shaky sigh, he leaned his head to rest atop hers.

Silence fell upon them as they sat there, soaking in the feeling of togetherness, the feeling of being _whole_ , while the sounds of the city seemed almost a world away in the streets below. There were no screams tonight, no sirens, no newsflash calling for the aid of Paris’s super duo, almost as if the city was suspended in time just for this one night, just for their conversation.

Adrien wanted these few minutes to last forever, and Marinette felt the same.

“What happens now, Marinette?” he whispered softly into her hair. Her hold on him tightened for a moment, her fingers digging in, and he felt her pull closer to him.

“I…don’t know,” she murmured just as quietly, sounding just as lost as he felt.

But he still loved her, even when she wasn’t wearing the mask, and he didn’t know if she knew that. He didn’t know if she’d _believe_ it if he told her. And if he was right, Marinette had at least liked _Adrien_ …now the question was if she still cared now that she knew that her partner in crime fighting was just another facet of his life.

“Well, I guess we can figure that out as we go, Princess.”

He pulled away from her slightly, turning to place a light kiss on her forehead. He started to stand, but a firm grip on his wrist held him in place, and he turned to look at her. It was a mistake—oh, _God_ , this was a mistake. The way she peered shyly up at him through her thick lashes, the way the blue of her eyes shined an ethereal purple in the moonlight, the way she bit her lip nervously…was she trying to kill him?

“Wait! I…I um…” she paused, glancing away and taking a deep breath before looking up at him again. “I know this is, uh, probably a bad time, A-Adrien, but I just wanted to tell you that I always l-liked you. A lot. As in, well…nevermind. But the point is that I, uh, that is, my feelings haven’t changed, even though I, uh, know you’re Chat Noir now. Well, no, I can’t say that because they’ve gotten _stronger_ but, I, uh, yeah. I just wanted to let you know that I…um…kinda…really, _really_ … _like you_?”

Her words came out in a questioning tone, red exploding across her entire face as she quickly looked away from him, her hand releasing his wrist so that she could cover half of her face. He had leaned closer to hear the squeak at the end, and he was utterly _flabbergasted_.

He’d been willing to leave this part of the conversation for another day out of respect for her, but she’d gone and blown those plans out of the water.

“I’m sorry!” she exclaimed violently then, though she was still taking care to keep her voice lower so she didn’t wake her parents. “ _I’m so sorry_! I don’t know what I was, uh, thinking!”

She kept rambling, but her exclamation had prompted him to take action. And so Adrien stepped back over to her and took her hand from her face, startling a gasp from her. With a quick movement, he had pulled her stumblingly to her feet and, in another moment, he was gently wrapping his arms around her, ever wary of her wounded shoulder. He didn’t realize he was shaking until he was holding her in the circle of his arms and burying his nose against the warm column of her throat.

“Oh, thank _God_ ,” he almost choked, his voice full of emotion.

Marinette stiffened at his words, but he only tucked his face closer to her neck as his eyes burned threateningly. It didn’t take Adrien long to figure out that he was probably going to burst into tears, and he was _never_ going to hear the end of it from Plagg if he did.

“A-A-Adrien?!”

“I thought you’d start to _hate_ me, once you knew,” he found himself confiding, his voice muffled by his proximity to her. “Ladybug was always pushing Chat Noir away, after all, and earlier today when I realized—well, _thought_ I realized—that you liked me, I wondered if you’d still like me even though you knew I was Chat. And then I realized that I only liked you _more_ when I found out that you were both Ladybug and Marinette, and I thought I was going to lose you because I wasn’t just Adrien but Chat, too, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more afraid of _anything_ , except watching you get shot and fall off of a _building_ and—“

He stopped when she started shaking, and he heard faint giggles but also other sounds he couldn’t quite identify, and when he pulled away, tears finally leaking from his eyes, he saw that he wasn’t the only one.

“M-Marinette!” he exhaled softly in surprise, “D-don’t cry! Please don’t cry…”

“I-it’s not bad, A-Adrien,” she managed to speak in between her silent sobs. “I…I’m just really, really happy to hear that.”

Through a watery smile that Adrien thought was the most beautiful thing he had _ever_ seen, the girl of his dreams looked right into his eyes and breathed, “I love you, kitty cat.”

With a choked laugh, he swooped forward and pressed his lips to her forehead again, this time lingering as she giggled, listening to the sound. When he finally looked back at her, with tears in his eyes, he somehow managed, “I love you too, Princess.”

In that moment, their dual lives collided and suddenly everything made sense again. Of _course_ Ladybug had turned out to be Marinette—with that side of compassion he’d seen time and time again, that streak of kindness that she wore proudly on her sleeve, there wasn’t anyone else she _could_ have been. And slowly, Marinette was coming to terms with the fact that, no matter how unlikely it had seemed at first, there was really no alternative—Adrien was so much more like Chat Noir than she’d ever given him credit for, from his love of puns, particularly cat related ones, and from his ability to charm her out of her words.

And the fact that her blossoming feelings for Chat Noir only accentuated her love of Adrien, and his newfound interest for Marinette only increased when he found that she was Ladybug, sent the two into a fit of light laughter, tears streaming down their faces as they reveled in the moment, safe in each other’s arms.

His honesty had given them this chance, and she would forever love that earnest part of him.

They would figure out exactly what this meant for their daily lives and for their superhero lives in time, but for now, the knowledge that their feelings were mutual was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is also cross-posted to my Tumblr, panda013. (I'm not cool enough to know how to link that here, if I can, so for now you're stuck with just my username!)


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